The least daunting of the Boston Bruins’ three Pacific Division tests this week proved too difficult Tuesday night.
The Bruins kicked off their last West Coast swing of the season by falling 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center. Brent Burns and Joonas Donskoi each tallied a goal and an assist for the Sharks, and former Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer kept the Bruins off the board for the final 42 minutes.
With the Florida Panthers defeating the Montreal Canadiens earlier in the night, the loss dropped Boston to second place in the Atlantic Division.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
David Krejci came up empty on a breakaway with less than four minutes to play, and the Bruins failed to score the rest of the way. Reimer gloved a Torey Krug wrist shot with less than a second to play to seal the win for the home team.
SECOND LINE STARTS STRONG
The Sharks, who, like the Bruins, have struggled mightily in home games this season, struck first in this one. Donski received a pass behind the Boston net and fed one in front to Melker Karlsson, who’d been left all alone in the slot.
San Jose’s lead was short-lived, however. Krejci scored the Bruins’ first goal less than three minutes later, gathering a juicy rebound off a David Pastrnak shot and one-timing it past Sharks goalie James Reimer.
Pastrnak is in the midst of one of his most productive stretches of the season, collecting four points (three goals, one assist) over his last three games.
Boston went on to take its first lead of the night later in the first period, with two second-liners again providing the offense. With the Sharks on a power play, Krejci intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and slid a no-look pass to Loui Eriksson, who bore down on Reimer before beating him blocker-side for his second shorthanded goal of the season.
Similar to the success the first line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Lee Stempniak enjoyed immediately after the trade deadline, the Eriksson-Krejci-Pastrnak trio has been on fire of late, combining for 13 points over the last three games.
LOWLIGHT REEL
The Sharks pulled even in the second.
Marchand was unable to get a shot off after a brutal Brenden Dillon turnover, and San Jose followed by scoring off a blown Boston line change. Burns did the honors, hist shot deflecting off Ryan Spooner’s stick and past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask.
The goal was Burns’ 26th of the season, tying the Sharks’ single-season franchise record for goals by a defenseman.
San Jose also rang two posts in the second period as the game remained tied heading into the third.
SHARK ATTACK
The Bruins stymied the Sharks’ first two power-play opportunities but couldn’t complete a third successful penalty kill.
With Jimmy Hayes in the box for an illegal hit to the head, Burns found a wide-open Joel Ward at the left circle, and Ward’s shot on net tipped off Donskoi’s stick and in. Donskoi was credited with the power-play goal, which put San Jose ahead with 13:23 remaining in the third period.
NO PAIN, NO GAIN
Two Bruins went down in painful-looking fashion in the game. Landon Ferraro collided hard into the door of the Boston bench after landing a hit on Dillon, and Bergeron endured the unfortunate experience of taking a Zdeno Chara slap shot off the chest.
Television cameras showed Bergeron writhing in pain after his encounter with the NHL’s hardest shot, but neither he nor Ferraro missed a shift.
LINEUP NOTES
Krejci played after missing Monday’s practice. Rookie winger Frank Vatrano, who on Monday was recalled from Providence on an emergency basis, did not.
UP NEXT
The Bruins begin their Southern California back-to-back Friday night against an Anaheim Ducks team that waxed them 6-2 in late January at TD Garden. One night later, they’ll visit the Los Angeles Kings, who handed them an even more embarrassing 9-2 loss last month.
Thumbnail photo via John Hefti/USA TODAY Sports Images
